【英语早间课堂】话说地道美语 Lesson 14 (1)

【今日课题】

我们中文中有个成语叫做“妄自菲薄”。它出自于三国蜀.诸葛亮的《出师表》中。文中写到：“不宜妄自菲薄，引喻失义，以塞忠谏之路也。”那么它是什么意思呢？妄自菲薄中的“妄”即“胡乱”之意，“菲薄”即“小看，轻视”之意。妄自菲薄的意思就是：过分地看轻自己。形容一个人“inferiority”，自卑。

In English, we have many ways to express it, such as: feel oneself inferior, self-abased , unduly¹ humble² oneself, belittle³ oneself a lot, underestimate one's own capabilities⁴. However , we have a colourful idiom to express it. So, what's it? 那么现在就进入我们新的一课的学习：Lesson Fourteen How to say “妄自菲薄”in real American English.

【课堂详说】

朋友们，您准备好了吗？我们课堂详解开始了。Let's listen to a dialogue to get that idiom.

A : None of the company agreed to employ me. Maybe it is my problem. B : You should be confident, honey. Don't sell yourself short.

对话中None of the company agreed to employ me. 没有一家公司同意雇佣我。Maybe it is my problem. 或许真的是我的问题了。You should be confident, honey. 亲爱的，你应该自信点。Don't sell yourself short. 不要小看自己。

说到这里，想必大家都知道了“妄自菲薄”的说法是：sell oneself short. 这个习语的关键点在于sell short这个短语。为何“sell short”有“not to value something or somebody highly enough and show it by the way you treat it or present yourself”的意思呢？这个我们就要谈到美国的文化。

Sell short最初使用股市中。在在股市趋势“走上”的时候投资者就卖，而在股市趋势走下的时候中，投资者就卖，这样即可盈利。Sell for在股市中就是“卖空”的意思。Let's look at the following example sentences. 1 His father warned him not sell short in these days when the prices are rising. 他的父亲警告他在价格上涨的这几天不要卖空。2 We won't sell short to make our fortune. 我们不靠卖空来发财。

【课堂总结】

Firstly，我们学了如何用地道美语表示中文成语“妄自菲薄”的意思。它是：sell oneself short。Secondly，我们了解了sell short的引申义的由来，它跟股市有关。

【课后习题】

Please translate the following sentences into English with "sell oneself short".

1 别低估自己，仔细/认真好好跟他谈谈.

2 别小看自己的能力．但也别定出一个遥不可及的目标。

3 不要妄自菲薄，你很聪明的。

4 凯特：我可不会低估你，迈克。你可比马能干多了。

翻译参考答案：

1 Don't sell yourself short. Talk turkey with him.

2 Never sell yourself short, but do not set a task for yourself which is utterly⁵ ridiculous.

3 Don't sell yourself short, you're very smart.

4 KITT:I would not sell yourself short, Michael. You are much more than a horse.

 

转自可可英语

1 unduly   

adv.过度地，不适当地

参考例句：

• He did not sound unduly worried at the prospect.他的口气听上去对前景并不十分担忧。
• He argued that the law was unduly restrictive.他辩称法律的约束性有些过分了。

2 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

3 belittle   

v.轻视，小看，贬低

参考例句：

• Do not belittle what he has achieved.不能小看他取得的成绩。
• When you belittle others,you are actually the one who appears small.当你轻视他人时， 真正渺小的其实是你自己。

4 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。